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>> you are watching "fox & friends first". this a live to the a fox news alert from have aed can city where pope benedict xvi is making his final public appearance before resigning. good morning. i am heather childers. >> i am patti ann browne. today is wednesday february 27th. moments ago the pope made his appearance. we are looking live at square. they bid him farewell before he officially resigns tomorrow. 50,000 people estimated to be in that square right now. they are watching the pope by giant television screen all along the main boulevard. >> 250,000 people there. as of 8:00 p.m. tomorrow 2:00 p.m. eastern time pope

benedict xvi will officially step down. he shocked the world with the announcement earlier this month. the first pope in fact in 600 years to resign. he no longer has the mental or physical strength to leave the catholic church. his final blessing sunday he reacured faithful followers he is not abandoning the church and he will spend his final years in prayer. for more coverage of the pope's final public pier rance we go life to rome where amy kellogg is standing by in saint peters square. she joini us on the phone. >> i am where you are watching the pictures, we are waiting for the pope to begin the address which may be about to happen. it is incredibly moving. you have to wonder what is on his mind right now as he makes the final public appearance in the have aed can.

we have a copy of the speech he will be making. it will be his final public appearance and thanks to all of those who have been with him through out the years here. people have passed through the square. there are a few pockets it is a full crowd. there are people from all over the world here. some who are very faithful themselves and want to thank pope benedict for his service to the search. some simply want to be here for the history of the moment. because as you said this is the first time a pope has resigned in 6 centuries. it leads people to picks mixed

emotions. some think he's not up to the task others think it's shocking others think he is as pope until he dies. everyone now coming forward. here it goes pope benedict xvi beginning his final wednesday audience. as we said this is a very historic and moment to us occasion. you can hear the applause. it's a beautiful day. god is clearly smiling down on this moment because there was a lot of rain and bad weather in rome earlier in the week. in any event we will keep you posted through out the day in terms of reaction to the pope's remax and the cat sicechism and the latest news from rome and the vatican. >> amy kellogg live for news have aed can city. thank you so much. >> we are going to bring in our own religious core upspo corres

lauren green. he is 85 years old. served for it will be less than 8 years. first pope in 600 years to resign. not a lot of talk about what led to it? >> bottom line it is his health. catholic insiders who say if the pope could ever resign absolutely not. it's not possible. obviously that changed. now they are mulling over that decision and they are saying what happened is the best. right now they are dealing with knowing that the pope resigned knowing they will have another pope with him in a couple of weeks to start with the catholic calendar, the catholic church. these are the kinds of things they are dealing with right now. how will this effect the future of the church in the years to come as they are mulling over how it will effect the church

the next yearsment>> all eyes are turning to the college of cardinal that is will be meet toggle elect a new pope. what is the time line? >> the time line is once the papal seat is officially vacant, that is tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. italian time, then the dean of cardinal also send out formal invitations on friday to all of the cardinals inviting them to rome. then they will convene for general conferences and it is during that general conference they will discuss the business of the church. when the papal seat is vacated the college of cardinals will be running the church. they will decide when the conclave will begin how the rules will happen, where they will sleep during the conclave and we will know probably monday or tuesday when the conclave will begin. >> in reality you say invitations are being sent but the vast majority are on their way or already there in rome. >> absolutely.

when it happens usually it's when a pope is dead. so they have to send out formal invitations to invite all of the cardinals into rome. what the pope did earlier this week is change the rules change the apostolic constitution to allow the college of cardinals to change the date. normally it would be 15 days after the papal seat is vacated. that would be march 15th. that's not enough time to have a pope in place for holy week. they have to change it. only another pope could change the rule. john paul ii is the one who put that into place. >> just speculation a lot of names being floated. who seems to be the top contenders. >> players keep changing. everybody seems to focus on an italian. he's the president of the council for culture. there's also cardinal who is the archbishop of milan. very much like pope benedict. another out of canada he hadz a powerful congregation of the

bishops. also another italian president of the italian bishop's conference. >> also cardinal turkson of ghana. >> he would be the first african pope. i have been watching the video here and we have seen kind of pictures of cardinal turk son. also there's another african that has been speculated at the last conclave. he could possibly be the first african pope. now he is over 80 and chances are he won't elect him because of his age. after the pope steps down because of his aging pope at age 85 they are not going to go with an older pope. they will have someone who has stamina of running the church and also being the shepherd of souls. >> with all of the talk the first none european we here in

america, maybe we would have an american pope but that's not really in the cards. >> it's unlikely but it's nice to speculate. one of the big names speculated about is cardinal out of new york. he is very, very outgoing. everybody likes him. he is like a rock star in the college of cardinals. italian press lane floating the name television cardinal shawn o'malley out of boston. i am scratching my head saying he does have a very humble sort of servant of the lord kind of look about him. i think perhaps that's why they focused on him. remember the press has nothing to do with speculation. they are going to put everybody out there and test the waters. >> lauren green, thank you. she will be with us the full hour to give us insight. >> fsh jonathan moore also joins us out side. father morris, can you hear me? >> i can hear you fine, thank

you, heather. good morning to patti ann as well. >> good morning to you. explain to us what the scene is like there today as you are experiencing? >> i just stepped away from saint peters square where there are thousands and thousands of people packed in to watch pope benedict xvi and also to listen to his last words. this is his last major event. people will be listening closely to his words. whether or not he will give some direction to the cardinals, some direction to the church, some direction as to where we need to go. in his last public appearance on sunday from his balcony he prayed what is called the angeles prayer. he explained what he was about to do. just like jesus went to the mountain to be transfigured before he went to his own suffering and death, he went up to the mountain to pray. i feel that god is calling me to

go to the mountain to pray. in other words, to go into retreat. i am not abandoning the church, what i am doing is serving the church in a different way. we will see if today he comes up with another very strong message to the church and to the cardinals about what he believes his mission is as well as the mission of the church. >> the number of catholics all around the cloeb, it has grown expedientially. actually almost tripleed 291 million back in 2010 to nearly 1.1 billion as of 2010 and 75.5 million of those are here in the united states. to people who are none cathol , catholic -- none cacatholic wha should they take away from today? >> that's a great question. even if you are not catholic or not christian the fact is the

papalsy that is the role of the pope his office and direction that he gave to the catholic church. it is the voice to traditional values. we have in the world today. thank god we have many christian brothers and sisters of other denominations as well as faith filled people of other religions. but the strength of the papalsy is that catholics believed, in other words if you don't want to be catholic you want to know what the catholic church teaches it's very, very clear. it is because of the papalsy. the strength of this institution is critical of our world and our country. >> definitely a historic day. the first time in 600 years a pope has resigned. we will be following it closely.

fo of father jonathan morris thank you for joaning us. -- joining us. we will check back in with you. >> now as we continue to watch that for you it is time for the 5@5:00. top five stories at this hour in another news. a late last night bus crash carrying the basketball team it ran off the highway crashing into the woods. it happened north of boston. it is believed the driver had some kind of medical issue while he was driving. he is now in serious condition. student and coaches they walked away with minor injury. >> a lot of traffic. how the bus missed everybody is just amazing. >> the teen was headed to boston university where the game was scheduled for tonight. >> was it all just a spraing at

s -- sick prank at sea? the coast guard has suggestion spended its search for a family of four who allegedly were forced to abandon their ship off of central california. crews could not find any information about where the boat came from where it was going or who was on board. there is no evidence the boat even existed. >> we are not investigating it directly as a hoax but we are pursuing every avenue. certainly is a possibility. >> the coast guard is still investigating. by the way the coast guard has prosecuted pope's calls in the past. >> california couple missing for months in peru has reportedly been found safe on a boat. they went on a bike trek through south america. they had not been heard from since january 25th. after a massive search was launched the couple was spotted at a small river. they were reported missing the

family say they still have concerns. i want to believe erg everybody is saying but until i know somebody has physically seen them, i am not going to get my hopes up. >> the couple is expected to reach the border of ecuador today. >> in 3 hours chuck hagel will become the nation's defense secretary. senators narrowly approved hagel's nomination 58-41 this after a historic nomination fight where hagel became the first cabinet pick to become filibustered. all but four voted against him. president obama says hagel is the right man for the job. >> the time right now 14 after the hour. still to come our live coverage pope benedict xvi final public appearance continues.

>> so they didn't actually come to

republicans are outraged he left for a campaign style speech on seek station with days left to try to stop the cut. peter doocy is live with an update for us on that. >> good morning patti ann. senior administration officials

are telling us since sequestration cuts will be let out it won't be held until late march or early april. they believe juanes that happens republicans will wind up kaying and giving the president the higher tax rates he wants just like they did during the fiscal cliff debate. this came hours after president obama took his message to new port news, virginia and a nuclear attack submarine plant. >> the impact won't be felt overnight. it will be real. the seek quest tore will weaken america's economic recovery. it will weaken our military readiness and weaken the basic services the american people depend on every sij day. >> republicans are already responding to the white house insisting they won't cave and they think any deal to avoid

sequestration is only going to be reached if the president stays here in washington and sits with them at the negotiating table. >> i don't think the president is focused on trying to find a solution to the seek quequester. he lane traveling all over the country going down to new port news in order to use our military men and women as a prop in yet another campaign rally to support his tax hikes. >> senior administration officials are saying the i am fact won't be health for a few weeks there is not enough urgency to force everyone to the negotiating table. they don't think that a meeting will lead to much of a break through anyway. >> peter doocy live in washington, thank you. it is 20 minutes after the hour. have your kids downloaded apps to your iphone or ipad?

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>> we continue our live coverage of pope benedict xvi live general audience. they are just wrapping up his address in saint peters square. he told tens of thousands of people moments ago he is not resigning for his good but rather for the good of the chun. he went on to say conscience of gravity of the decision took with it a profound ser rinity of spirit. pope benedict saying he will keep the faithful in his prayers and he has trust in the fewer of the church. he finished by thanking the crowd for spreekting his decision. >> a busy morning here but now

stories you can bank on this morning. have your kids ever purchased an app on your iphone or maybe your ipad without your permission. you are not line. now apple wants to give you some pay back. lauren simonetti joins us from the fox business network. >> the pay back turns out to be $5 per person. apple paid mom and dad $100 million because junior bought songs and games and apps from itunes without their permission. this is part of a proposed saturday element. they will have an itunes credit to customers if they file a claim. i tune business rakes in 40 million a day. but the real issue here is how to parent kids on the internet which this their new playground. the>> the new ones is smurf village, smurf berry and farmville. >> if you are 3. >> or me.

apparently carses no longer affordable to buy. >> many of us are cruising in new wheels we can't really afford. the median income in 25 major cities last year was just over 57,000 dollars. using that salary households can afford a car payment of up to $410 a month enough to buy a new car that costs less than 21,000 dollars. here's the problem. the average price of a new car is more than 30,000 dollars which means the average new car buyer is paying some $200 more a month than he or she can really afford. since the average age of a car on the road is 11 years right now record high we are seeing a lot of people buying new cars. auto sales are good. >> people spending more money than they have. kind of like what happened with the housing crisis. remember that? thank you lauren. appreciate it. the time is 26 after the top of the pour. coming up would you board the

titanic to replatrace the fatal voyage in one businessman is hoping a lot of people will. we will explain and our live coverage of pope benedict xvi final pier rance begins. we have amy kellogg and father lawrence who is in the crowd. that and more and lauren green, too. >> he will sing our father in latin. he extends it to the members of your family at home. his holiness also intends to bless any religious obstacles you may have brought for this purpose and a special way his blessing goes to your children.

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>> we have now another fox and friends first fox news alert. a live look at the vatican pope benedict xvi delivering his final public mass before officially resigning. good morning again everyone. i am patti ann browne. >> i am heather childers. it is half past the top of the hour. pope benedict xvi giving a final speech to pilgrims who have come all over the world to bid farewell on this significant day. the pontiff telling them he is

not resigning for his good but for the good of the church. the pontiff says he faced joy but also difficult moments during his leadership. he will continue to serve the church through prayer. he thanks everyone for respecting his decision. as of 8:00 p.m. tomorrow roam time he will officially step down. the news of his retirement shocked the world. he no longer has the mental or physical strength to lead the catholic church. let's go live to the final public appearance. >> amy kellogg is there in saint peters square with the crowd and joins us on the phone. amy? >> hi patti ann. hi heather. i just backed off from saint peters square. the pope just wrapped up his remarks. beyond what you said about him

expressing thanks to people he did also say i thought was worth mentioning when you become a pope you give up your personal life. by retiring he is not reclaiming a personal life of travel and conferences, but he is going to continue to dedicate himself to the church, prayer, reflection. that's what he plans to do in his retirement now. i come from london where there is so much pomp and ceremony around the royal family, but of course the vatican has hs own very elaborate and beautiful pomp and ceremony which we will be seeing in the final hours of this audience to the pope's farewell of the cardinals and then his departure from the vatic vatican. his last truly appearance will be the papal summer retreat when

he gets there before his pontificate expires at 8:00. he will go on the balcony and the people of that village, he will greet them waving from the balcony. that will really be it. it is a very moving day here in rome. saint peters square who are out for different reasons some out of their profound faith and their desire to thank the pope personally for his service to the church, and others just want to be part of a moment in history because this is new territory for many. popes just don't resign commonly so this is a bug deal. i met americans who say this is really the only pope they know have known. we remember watching the pope trot around the globe. for many young people they have really only known benedict xvi.

some of them were out there saying good-bye hoping the next woep will be someone to understands young people well or to join the church. patti ann and heather. >> amy live for us at the vatican. thank you. >> let's bring in fox news religious correspondent lauren green as we say good-bye to pope benedict xvi. what will happen next? you heard amy talk a little more about pope benedict xvi and what happens in his life after tomorrow. what are your thoughts on that? >> many people may be aware that pope benedict as an older brother who is also -- he lives in germany and they are very, very close. so they will actually be spending a lot of time together. i have some close friends of the monsignor if he will be living

with the america's pope in the vatican. he will be there a lot. not sure he is actually moving to the vatican. th that is going to be a great deal a part of his life. they are very close. i have always speculated what is having a brother so close have to do with the pope wanting to step down wanting to spend that time with him. before he became a hopope that' one of the things wasn'ted to do to go back to williamsburg and go back with his brother. that will be his life after he leaves his -- as the official successor is there. the flags from germany, many people pope benedict is a german. he came from bav vaaria the blu and white diamond shaped flag that is being flown.

it is the heart of germany and it is very, very devout. they are there to see him talk before the audience. >> it makes it interesting to know the history behind it. thank you so much. appreciate it. >> let's bring in father jonathan morris who joins us on the phone from just outside of saint peters square. thank you for joining us once again. >> my pleasure. good morning. >> pope benedict never quite as popular as his predecessor pope john paul. people said he didn't have the charisma more of an intellectual. what are the priorities the conclave will be looking for in the next pope? >> that's a great question. i think john paul tii had a popularity that was second to none in recent history of the papacy. pope benedict had larger crowds in saint peters square during hi audiences as we see now jam packed with people listening to

his words. john paul ii was the pope of de television and the traveling pope. pope benedict xvi has been called the pope of the internet. the pope of the rich in word. his teachings are so simple yet profound. i would encourage people just to read what he has written himself. he has a marvelous series on jesus of nazareth three books in a 3 part series. just very simple and yet very profound. what do congress look for? i asked that of cardinal dolan yesterday. his response was weatherman knee things are kneaded, many, many things, one of the first priorities of the cardinal he believes will be to find somebody who can give the new impetus to the church and strength and vigor and preaching president gospel of jesus with happiness and with conviction. and conviction not only of his own but being able to give

conventioning reasons -- convincing reasons to the world no doubt the papacy is a different office or role than it was in the past because of communication. to have a pope who can communicate with that conviction to a world i believe is starving for real reasons and purpose for living i think is going to be a big thing on the minds of the cardinals. >> pope benedict we should mention the first twitter account trying to modernize there. i want to briefly address the reports that came out of the media last week adamantly denied the real reason was he got the results of the investigation he commissioned potential scandal one of them being blackmailed by

someone and adamantly denied by the vatican. what do you think about these reports? >> i would say i would not deny it's a possibility thoughed thin -- those things exist in that report. i don't know. i haven't seen it. only the pope has seen it. the members of the church are so pure and holy nothing like that says this. i don't believe that. the amazing thing about the catholic church is that it has survived 2,000 years of the weakness of its members. when the vatican denyings i don't believe the reason for him stepping down is because of that. let's not deny those things happened. >> he was the one who called for

an investigation. result he planned to resign. >> there was rumblings about him resigning. >> he said he would do that if he could no longer do it without health of mine and body. thank you again. >> right now quick other headlines this morning. a shooting turns deadly overnight. >> dramatic video of the hot air balloon crashing in egypt after catching fire. the crash leaving 19 tourists dead two people lucky dob alive

after surviving the plunge. they will push tourism into a deeper recession. >> titanic 2 will be ready to take to the seas. it will have modern improvements like air-conditioning. they would not rebuild the cost for the ship but he is paying for it all by himself. >> i want to spend the money i have got before i die which is a reasonable proposition if you work hard 40 percent, 50 percent of your life you might as well spend it not leave it to the kids to spend. >> 40,000 people have expressed interest in tickets. the maiden voyage would be the same course as the original ship from england to new york. that is your 5@5:30. >> the time right now 43 after the hour. still to come do you think working out helps you sleep better? you might be wrong.

dr. mark ceiling has fact and fiction when it comes to bedtime. >> stick around our live coverage of pope benedict xvi final appearance continues when we come back.

>> we continue our coverage of pope benedict xvi final general audience. the pontiff talking to the faithful in saint peters square. he told a crowd of tens of thousands that he was not resigning for his good but for the good of the church. pope benedict saying he will keep the faithful in his prayer. he will keep faithful in his prayers and has great trust in the future of his church. he nirned by thanki-- finished thanking colleagues in the crowd. >> no deal in si the looming sequestration. president obama went ahead with

plans to warn about the impact. that drew strong criticism by the gop. good morning, doug. >> despite last minute efforts these cuts are almost certain to happen now on friday. the white house says it will take some time but we will feel the impact here. immigration enforcement may in fact be the first casualty according to the administration. they haven't been implemented yet but the department of homeland security has start the to release illegal immigrants from jail, several00 of the-- several hundred of them. the move infuriated republicans said it was absolutely unnecessary. >> the seek quequester will wea america's economic radio he cover reand weaken our military readiness and weaken the basic services the american people depend on every sij day. >> while the paeentagon has pla

to temporarily furlough 800,000 civilian employees government labor unions may not be doing the president any favors. one union official says the furloughs aren't necessary. a proposal in congress would give the president more power to choose where the cuts are made. the white house does not want that authority, though. while the senate and house are working on alternatives neither are making much progress. >> for 16 months the president has been traveling all over the country holding rallies instead of sitting down with senate leaders in order to try to forge an agreement over there in order to move the bill. we have moved the bill in the house twice. we should not have to move a third bill before the senate gets off their (bleep) and begins to do something. >> this ultimately comes down to taxes. the president and democrats want a deal that includes more tax revenue they are not raising taxes again. >> it's getting hot in there.

doug luzader, thanks. do you think working out helps you sleep better? you may be wrong. mark seigel is here next to separate fact from fiction. >> now let's check in with ryan kilmeade to see what's coming up on fox and friends. >> we are going to keep it indoors because it's a hurricane inside. we are talking about two-days for the big sequestor. what it means for legals let out of prison can't afford to keep them there. we are talking a little football. we are going to run a play the wide receiver of the 49ers will be put in motion. he's going to come around to the end. it's up to peter doocy and lisa to tackle them. you see if it will work. coming up on "fox & friends." at 100 calories or less, there are plenty of reasons people are saying "progress-oh!" share your progress-oh! story on facebook.

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the pontiff talking to the faithful in saint peters square. he is not resigning for his good but for the good of the church. he will keep faithful in his prayers and has great trust in the future of the church. he finished by thanking his colleagues and the crowd for respecting his decision. we spend almost a third of our lives asleep but that doesn't mean we are good at it. what is fact and what is fiction about getting a good night's rest. first myth you actually need 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night. is that true? >> that's a fact. the national sleep foundation says we need that much sleep. if we are children we need more than that. teens need 8 and a half to 9 hours of sleep a night. they don't get it.

when we don't get enough sleep we are at risk of certain diseases, weight gain, diabetes, heart disease and with his kids not fupgsing at school. -- functioning at school. >> number two myth or fact that exercise helps you sleep? >> that is actually true. a study from northwestern shows that exercise if do you it at the right time of the day improves how you sleep. people that were sedentary they put them in a study after arrow bicks exercise they did better. get a regular daily. >> early ner the day? >> i think it's earl flir the day. if it's too close to bedtime it can impact going to sleep. >> 40 seconds left. most couples have similar sleep habits. is that true? >> that's absolutely fiction. what is interesting about this, when you get married you don't know, you don't choose a partner based on how you sleep. when you are in the relationship women control sleep. women tend to go to sleep earlier than men. men have to comply and i happen

to know that. i happen to know that being married. that's not something we are told about in advance. then there are issues like snoring people don't necessarily sleep well together. >> i like to end it on that note women control everything, right? >> absolutely. >> more on fox and friends first coming right up. stay with us.